The present disclosure relates generally to immersion lithography and, more particularly, to use of immersion lithography in the manufacture of semiconductor integrated circuits.
Immersion lithography typically involves exposing a coated resist to a pattern through de-ionized water (DIW) disposed in the space between a project lens and the resist layer for higher resolution. Current immersion lithography processes may include various processing steps such as resist coating, pre-baking, immersion exposing, post-exposure baking, developing, and hard baking. However, the current immersion lithography processes experience various contaminations and particles from wafers and components of the lithography system, resulting in pattern defects, pattern distortion, and pattern loss. What is needed is a simple and cost-effective method for collecting and removing contaminants and particles in immersion lithography.